A historic garden is a fascinating world in miniature. The plants may be large or small, showy or modest, but all are of great interest.Such a living world is in continual evolution. The owners can try to direct this evolution, but the major part is played by nature, through snowfalls, disastrous storms, seeds carried by birds or the wind. Managing this fragile equilibrium in a rational and discreet fashion, and with loving care, through problems and satisfactions, is the mark of the true gardener.

As our garden is not as large as many others, we are constantly torn between introducing new plants, following the example of the 19th century botanists, and just maintaining the original plants as we remember them.

There is no doubt that the camellias and roses are our favourites, and the garden from March to June is an exceptional sight, with its riot of colours, shapes and varieties.

A further source of pride is that some of our camellias are over 150 years old and are extremely rare, in a few cases actually unique.

Nowadays we owe a debt of gratitude to internet for the amazing opportunity it gives us to consult English, German and American web sites in particular; the botanical background in these countries has fostered great advances in scientific knowledge. It’s always an odd feeling to converse with our foreign visitors using the Latin names of trees and flowers as a lingua franca!

The species present in the garden are listed below in alphabetical order, subdivided by category, not very scientifically: Trees, Palms, Shrubs, Bamboos, Climbing plants, Flowers / herbaceous plants / ground cover plants / ferns. We have used primarily the botanical Latin name, sometimes including the common name. The rarest species, or those present with particularly numerous or important specimens, are marked with an asterisk.

We do realise that this list is not scientific; it is also not definitive, due to the fact that every year some variety disappears, or appears, or is planted. However, we think it right to try and keep the list up to date. We shall always be pleased to give our guests details of the plants in the garden, leaving it to them to judge the results of our efforts – and please feel free to offer your suggestions!

You may smile at our including these “kitchen plants”, but we are proud of our vegetables too! We still remember how after the war we used the skins of angora rabbits raised in the greenhouses to keep us warm, and ate eggs from the hens that scratched about in the tennis court.